Business

Three Main Objectives of McDonalds Customer Service Perspective- Their
Performance Measures, Level of Performance and Initiative

This paper explores the customer service perspective of the restaurant chain McDonalds and show how they relate to the mission, vision and strategy of the organization. The paper then identifies for each objective one meaningful performance measure, one level of performance and one strategic initiative for implementing the same. Further, the paper discusses briefly the customer service objectives of this module with that of the earlier module 18LP assignment.

McDonalds restaurants are very well known for their customer oriented approach and needless to say the chain of restaurants spread throughout the world carries the same message. From the different objectives of the organizations customer orientation we select at least three main objectives that relate to the mission, vision and strategy of the organization. Before going over the three main objectives we shall present the vision and mission statement of the McDonald and see how they relate to these objectives.

Mission and Vision Statement
The mission and vision statement of McDonald is the same and it perceives itself to be the worlds first quick service restaurant experience by providing outstanding quality, service cleanliness and value so that it makes every customer at each of its restaurant smile.
   
From the above statement it is quite clear that the name McDonald should stand synonymous with the objectives of the company and for this paper we shall deal only with three main objectives namely, customer satisfaction, customer retention and new customer acquisition.

Customer Satisfaction
Customer satisfaction is the top priority for the McDonald for it is quite apparent that an unsatisfied customer who leaves one of its restaurants is a customer lost for good. This is because there are other restaurants equally competitive although they may not have the brand image of McDonalds. Therefore, it is quite a necessity on part of McDonald to keep its customers satisfied and happy. All firms ought to know what they are providing the customers in terms of customer value and this is by focusing on the customers and not the products (John, 2003).

One meaningful measure that the management in particular the manager of the restaurants could develop for overall customer satisfaction is through feedback of response. This response may be received at the cash counter or a card placed before the customer along with the bill by the waiters. The card may be placed before the customer along with the bill and the customer must be invited to make a tick mark with a pen. A sample card is given below.
                       
Customer Feedback
Excellent service
Satisfactory
Medium
Poor -

One expected level of performance that may be identified with respect to the customer service is to target those who come with their families and children and are definitely not the casual lot and who may spread the word around about the good service.

One identifiable new action and change which the managers of the restaurant may make is to segregate a new childrens meals room where snacks of varied varieties catering to the school going children could be served in particular apart from the usual meal spaces. Change occurs by altering behavior and if this done positively then it drives performance (Bradley, 2003).

Customer Retention
Customer retention is of great importance for McDonalds for a customer that walks away in disgust is a customer lost for good.

One meaningful measure which the manager of the restaurant may take is to develop a continuous rapport with those customers who are satisfied. For this he may add the address or the phone numbers and send a greeting card on special occasions to the address.

One expected level of performance is to target the regular customers and keep them happy with some special discount offerings.

One new identifiable action or program is the successful implementation of successful performance measures like staff level appraisal reports pertaining to customer retention.

New Customer Acquisition
For McDonald to grow in size and stature of what it is today and for further growth in the future new customers is a must to keep the brand name ingrained in the memories of the masses.
One meaningful measure of performance in customer acquisition is to expand its franchise to newer areas or countries.

One expected level of performance or target is to make entries into those countries where the customers extend their menu beyond what they are generally used to and are more open minded to newer tastes.

One identifiable objective that needs to be initiated is to advertise the brand names and spread awareness in McDonald restaurants in these new countries.

And above all is the customer experience management (CEM) framework which makes the customer perceive the experience as a unified whole and not one of random impression (Schmitt, 2003). This means that a customer leaving McDonalds should never forget the unique experience. In the previous module the financial objectives that were identified were quite in line with the way to reduce cost in each restaurant and to avoid wastage which in turn would be for the overall satisfaction of the customers. The cost saving would effectively entail optimization of food products as per the demand and the money saved could be utilized for expenses that may occur for customer retention and new customer acquisition. Thus there is a definite relationship between the customer service objectives in this module with that of the financial objectives as discussed in the previous module.
     
Further, I personally feel that there is no need for any changes in the objective write ups in module one in light of the experience gathered from module two.